Antifriction bearing



Patented nec. 19,1922.

unirsi) sinrlss 1,439,401 PATENT. oFFl'cE.

TRACY V. BUCKWALTER, OF CANTON, OHIO, ASSIGNOR TO THE TIMKEN ROLLER .BEARING COMPANY, 0F CANTON, OHIO, A CORPORATION 0F OHIO.

ANTIFRICTION ABEARING'.`

Application lfiled. May 27, 1921. Serial No. 472,992.

To allwhomitmy concern.' I i Be it known that I, TRACY V. BUCK- WALTER, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of the city of Canton, in the county of Starkand State of Ohio, have invented a new'and useful Improvement in Antifriction'Bearings, of which the follow.

irg is a specification.

Antifriction bearings are frequently interposed between shafts or other parts lwhich are required to rotate at some times in unison and some times relatively to eachother. For instance, antifriction bearings are interposed between the two sections of the main transmission shaft of .an automobile and which are in alinement with each other and adapted to be actuated at the same-or different speeds according to the shifting of the change speed mechanism, the normal or direct drive bein atl the same speed. In

such case, the antifriction bearing functions siderable rubbing and end thrust that tends to bring about relative movement of the ant-ifriction rollers or balls with relation to the bearing cups and cones.' This endwlse rubbing has a tendencyto form flutes or grooves in the bearing cup and cone; and when such utes or grooves once get started, thereis a tendency for the antifriction rollers or balls to come to rest, after rotation, in such flutes or grooves, thus deepening them and greatly impairing or destroy,

ingjhe value lof the antifriction bearing.

he principal object of the present invention is to devise an antifriction bearing that will 4overcome or minimize the'above mentioned tendency to flute the bearing cup; and it consists principally-in arranging the antifriction rollers or balls so that one`or more of the series will be .spaced from its neighbor a different distance from the normal spacing. It also consists in the arrangements and combinations of parts hereinafter described and claimed.

In the accornpanyinv drawing, which forms part of this speci cation, and wherein like 'reference numerals' parts wherever they occur,

Fig. 1 is a sectional view "of a portion of an automobile transmission mechanism and indicate like of a roller bearing embodying my invention; *and Fig. 2 isl a cross sectional .view of the bearing along the line 2-2 of Fig. l.'

For the purpose of illustrating my nvention, I have. shown 'a conical roller bearing of a well-known type applied to the front end'of transmission gearing of a: type commonly used in automobiles. In this construction, the transmission shaft is made in two sections, numbered l and 2, ofwhich section l receives its power from the motor and has clutch teeth 3 on its end arranged to cooperate withclutch teeth 4 formed in the* hub of a pinion 5 that is slidably mounted on the other transmission shaft section 2 which is in alinement with said first shaft section l and'which is operatively connected by well-known means to the shaft, sect-ions of the driving axle (not shown in the drawings) When the sliding pinion 5 on the sec-' ond transmission shaft section 2 is vmoved 'into such position that its clutch teeth 4 en gage the clutch teeth 3 on the end of the motor driven shaft section 1, the shaft sec'- tions land 2 move as a unit; and this is the normal relation in driving and is commonly referred to as direct drive..

In the 4construction Shown, the vend of the shaft section l that is driven by the motor has a gear or pinion 6 formed thereon which meshes with a pinion,7 on the counter shaft 8 of the transmission gearing. This counter shaft 8 is also provided with additional pinions (such kas the pinion 9 shown in the drawings) thatcooperate with pin- `ions secured on themain transmission shaft,

and slidable thereon such as the pinion 5, all arranged in a well-known mannersb that the motion of the motor driven shaft section 1 will be transmitted through. the counter shaft 8 to the second transmission shaft sect-ion 2, which in consequence, will rotate at a lower speed than "the first shaft 1 or in reverse direction. 'This change speed 'mechanism is well understood and accordingly I have shown only Apart ofit in the drawing. In order to'reduce friction duringindirect drive, an antifriction "bearin is interposed between the adjacent endso the transmission shaft Sections; and, -for divers reasons, it is desirable to form the cup or outer bearing surface for the bearing in the end of the motor driven shaft section 1. In the construction illustrated in the drawing, the gear 46 on the motordriven shaft section 1 is provided with a recess into which extends the` end of the second shaft 2 and in this recess is formed a lcup or outer bearing member 12 for an ant-ifriction bearing. In this cup 12 is placed an antifriction bearing comprising conical rollers 13 or other antifriction elements which are mounted in a lcircular series on a conc or inner bearing member lzlgsecured lto the end of the transmission shaft section 2. f

The antifriction rollers. 13 or balls are spaced apart and kept in proper position by means of a'cage 15y whichfloats with the" rollers. I-Ieretofore it has been customary to space apart rollers of a series as uniformly as practicable and great care has been taken to avoid unevenness of spacing. I attribute the luting of the bearing cup above mentioned veryA largely tothe even spacing of the rollers or balls; and for this reason IV y make one or more of the spaces between adjacent rollers or balls different from the normal spacing of the series. -For this .purpose,'one or more of the bridges or longitudinal members 16 that connect the annular end members of the cage is made an appre ciable amount wider or narrower- (preferably wider) than the other bridges. As a result of this difference in spacing, one or another ofthe rollers will be outv of register with the incipient grooves started by any` other rollers and thus, the uneven spacing overcomes or minimizes the tendency, incidental to the even spacing, to deepen the incipient flute.

Itis noted that theI mere omission of. one roller from an evenly spaced f series would not accomplish the purpose of the present .invention, because the remaining rollers of the series that is thus rendered incomplete are evenly spaced and would all register move in unison and at other times rotate relatively to each other. Likewise, while I have illustrated a conical roller bearing, the

invention is applicable to rollers of other forms and to balls.

'What I claim is: i

1. A. cage for roller bearings comprising lannular end members connected by bridges, said bridges having anormal width but one or more thereof being of a different width.

2. A' cage for roller bearings comprising lend members, and bridges connecting the same" to form acircular series of even sized openings for the rollers, the distance from the'center of one opening to the center of the next adjacent opening being uniform throughout the series, with one or more eX- ceptions wherein such distance is different from thenormal.

3. VA roller bearing comprising an inner' bearing member, an outer bearing'member and a multiplicity of rollersinterposed b'etween said members and a lloating cage for spacing said rollers apart, the` spaces between said rollers being of uniform width throughout the series, withv one or more eX-y ceptions wherein such space is different from the normal and is not a' multiple thereof.

Signed at Canton, Ohio, this 23d day of May, 1921. L r TRACY V. BUCKWALTER. 

